It's only Natural
by AnInsomniaOfWriting
Summary: A new story that follows Ranma as he actually deals with his curse full time. Exploring what it means just to be a guy or a girl. Still lots of martial arts and adventure. Yet tackling some serious issues as well. As little "In character" as possible. Rated M for language and things that are to come up.
1. Chapter 1

Hey again readers, it's me again. New story, new show. This first chapter really just covers the intro and largely follows the actual show. Close, but not exactly. Just helps me get in the zone for a new book. After this chapter though it will be a completely different, story. If you know me I do try to keep people as close to "in character" as possible. So if you like that stay tuned for future chapters.

Also, though not actually necessary. I _obviously_ don't own any of this.

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><p>The sound of rain could be heard hitting the gateway as I shuffled with the crowd though the tunnel. Rain, I hated rain, recently at least. I used to love the rain before last month, now it only served as a reminder. A reminder of the curse that was on my father and I. He just had to go training in extreme places again. I loved martial arts as much as the next guy, but sometimes I felt that the location didn't really matter. Now more than ever.<p>

The airport was busy enough. Japan had quite the airport. Then again I never really cared for big crowds. This was in fact the first time that I had even flown. It wasn't by choice though we couldnt swim back in the same way that we had gotten to China in the first place. Still I hadn't been back in Japan for nearly a year now. I only wished the circumstances were better. Actually I wasn't entirely positive as to why my pops suddenly insisted that we head back to Japan. He said he would tell me when we got there. Yet even now he remained as silent as he had throughout the entire flight. Leaving me to just stare out over the ocean the whole time.

"So where are we staying?" I broke the silence after we finished going through customs. Not that we had many belongings with us for them to check. Mostly just a few changes of clothes and some spare money.

"With a friend of mine." I shuddered. Friends of his tended to be on the lesser side of friends and more on the side of enemies. "Don't worry this time we're staying for a while. He runs a dojo here in town." That picked my spirits up, at least we could have a nice place to train in peace for once.

We stepped out of the airport. The air was cold and the rain was persistent with no sign of letting up. Sad, because I had been looking to escape the heat and humidity of China for several months now. Now that I had a new outlook on rain, this wasn't any better.

"So why are we staying with them?" It wasn't like us to drop training just to go see one of his old friends.

"Well I may have promised him something a while back, and its time to fulfill it. You're a young man now, so it's time."

"For what?" I already wasn't liking the sound of it. Especially since he was dodging just giving me a straight answer.

"He has three daughters you see all roughly your age."

"Yeah, what's your point? I'm really not into girls at this point in my life right now."

"Yeah I get that, but nonetheless you have to marry one in..." I didn't let him finish. What did that bastard think? That he owned my life?

I was already feeling the changes from the water. Each drop resonated on my skin, changing it. Every hit was another small change in my body. The sensation still freaked me out. Why shouldn't it though? This curse, or magic or however it worked made my skin feel numb for a split second as all my cells were reworked into another form. My hair grew heavier, and not just from the fact that it was getting soaked. As the water seeped though my shirt I felt my chest grow numb then tight all in an instant.

I tripped when my body center of gravity changed in an instant. I still needed to grow proficient in moving while changing forms. I didn't have time to stop though, I could already hear the sound of my father catching up to me. I picked myself up and started to run as best I could, running with these big lumps on my chest was still a pain in the ass. I wondered how girls managed to do it. No wonder they seemed to run so slowly. Judging from my troubles with them, that had to be one of the major reasons.

I heard the distinct cries to my left and adjusted my course. After all my fathers curse drew far more attention than mine did. So I turned into a girl, in terms of curses as best as I could figure, not so bad really. Turning into a two-hundred and twenty pound panda bear that was currently chasing said girl through the streets of Nerima. If I compared it to him, I didn't have it so bad really.

I knew from experience though that I wouldn't be able to outrun him. Bears are just faster than people. Especially if that person loses six inches in height, has their center of gravity changed and has to deal with two new, somewhat large and unrestrained members flopping around.

So I would just have to fight him. I quickly turned around to face him. Only to be met by an empty street. I could have sworn that he was right...Above! I rolled to dodge his attack, the one that left the concrete where I was just standing with a new impact crater. He growled in anger. He couldnt talk while he was a panda. One of the things about his transformation that I was grateful of. I never did care for his half-felt heart to heart conversations. I proceeded to hammer out a barrage of swift counterattacks. His body though, my blows didn't seem to carry much weight behind them even though they were landing squarely. Luckily I was faster than he was, he just had hellish strength.

"Agh!" It was all I could cry out as he suddenly splashed my eyes with water. In that split second my eyes were closed he hit me. I tried to resist but I could tell I was falling. The last thing I felt was my body hitting the ground.

I awoke to being dropped on the ground. Unnecessary yes, but I had grown used to such awakening. I had lost track of how many times I had been knocked out. Though the force that it took was tremendous now. After all, a whole life of intense training had certainly paid off. It was rare for us to encounter anyone of any real skill. Still I liked to think that every battle added up towards something, even if the increments were small.

"Look, you cant just marry off to one of your weird friends daughters!" He only growled in response as he knocked on the door. Clearly he had no intention of trying to explain the situation with our bodies before hand.

"Oh they're here!" An older mans voice shouted from inside. That would have to be dads friend as best as I could guess. The door opened and a mustached man and a girl with short hair looked bewildered at the panda and young girl before him. I didn't blame them, we looked like we just escaped from some kind of circus.

Before the man could even reject us he picked me up and carried me into the house. The man and woman just ran screaming. What was wrong with pops? We couldnt just barge in like this. Especially not while we were _like this._

"C-come on, your scaring them! Stop!" I pounded on him, but his panda form was quite resilient. He held me there over his shoulder in front of them. A few awkward moments passed before an older sounding girl spoke.

"Are these your friends father?" The man just shook his head no several times.

"If they're not your friends then what's a panda doing here!?" He only repeated his head shaking. Of course he had no idea. My dad was a real idiot sometimes. He slowly placed me down, facing them. Naturally he would leave _me_ to do the talking. I shrunk back, I wasn't used to talking to new people. Especially after a terrible first impression.

"Y-you wouldn't happen to be...Ranma would you?"

"Yea, I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry bout' this."

"Oh, I see. So you're Ranma!" That wasn't quite the reaction I was expecting. My thought on how this would go was more like _What the hell, why did you bring me this girl!?" _

"He _is_ cute!" there were so many things wrong with that sentence I literally cringed at it.

"Oh! It's so goo of you to come!" The old man suddenly embraced me into his chest. Seriously what the hell was wrong with these people? "Hmm?" It seemed as if one of them finally noticed that something was amiss. How did they not notice sooner was the real question of the day.

He stopped hugging me and stepped back, giving me the strangest look I had ever seen anyone give to someone ever. The short haired girl finally noticed too, leaning in towards my chest. Poking me in the breast a few times. Even rubbing them a little just to be sure. It took all I had to be patient about it...and not send her flying across the room out of reflex.

"Um? Could you please stop that." I gritted my teeth. I didn't care for how sensitive girls were in that area. Plus, not that I was a pervert, but even I hadn't gotten a chance to really mess with them. I was a guy after all, and even I couldn't help but be a little curious.

"One-hundred percent female I tell you!" The short haired girl exclaimed to her father.

"A-a girl!?" The man cried. Then he proceeded to black out. Kind of a rude reaction in my opinion, but what could you do?

"Father!" The girl who seemed to be the oldest carried him into the main living room and with the help of her sisters put him on the couch. She grabbed an ice pack and put it on his forehead and started to make some tea. The girls just kept on chatting to each other like me and dad weren't even there.

"Oh pops, he must be so disappointed." Kasumi chatted. I caught her name from some of their side chat.

"Me too, I was looking forward to seeing what kind of man he was. Then I get a look at him and _he _turns out to be a _she_." This conversation was getting tough to listen to. Mostly cause I had been stuck like a girl for almost half a day now. It felt like I was stuck in a shirt that was a size to small and I wanted nothing more than to get out of it.

"Stop sis, she came a long way to see us." Finally the last sister broke her silence. She was the youngest one out of the three. Akane I think they called her.

"Oh look, father is waking up!" Kasumi ringed.

"Father, this is your fault! Couldnt you have checked on whether it was a boy or a girl?"

"Saotome told me that he had been blessed with a son."

"What part of this looks like a girl to you huh?" The girl groped me again. "What part of this?!"

"Um, please stop that." I muttered again.

"she's right-." Akane butted in. Perhaps she was going to get her sister to stop grabbing my chest. "So what if she's a girl? She traveled a long way to get here. A guest is a guest! Hey! You wanna come see our dojo?"

Now we were talking. A little training would pick my spirits up while my dad managed to work all this out. Panda or not.

"I'm Akane, want to be friends?" She smiled. I didn't know, I never really had much time in one place to make friends. Given the circumstance though I didn't know if getting super friendly was a good idea. Though a trip to their dojo couldnt hurt. So I nodded and followed her to their dojo.

"You study Kenpo right?"

"A bit." I replied, still unsure of the situation. Looks could be deceiving, though her aura didn't make me think that she had much to her. I put on a smile to hide my thoughts. The less she ever knew about me the better.

"Why don't we have us a little match then." I laughed a little on the inside. I could tell just by looking at her that she didn't have a snowballs chance in hell on landing a blow on me. She didn't need to know that though.

"A match?" I did my best to sound innocent. Deceptive on my part yes, but looks could be deceiving.

"Yeah! Just for fun though." She took her stance. I just stood there blankly, arms still crossed behind my back. "I wont attack you for real OK?" I simply nodded in acknowledgment.

She started with a quick right jab. A punch that I could tell was coming just from the way she stood in he stance. I dodged it easily by leaping straight up in the air clean over her punch. The look of confusion on her face was priceless. Sure it was mean of me to toy with her, but I really needed to blow off some steam.

A kick and punch. Both were easy to dodge. I didn't even have to move my feet. She tried a few more rounds of that. It wasn't that she was inherently slow, or bad at martial arts. I was just on another level than she was. Maybe one day she could land a hit on me, but definitely not today.

"What wrong? Attack me!" Apparently my basically ignoring her was starting to piss her off a little. She threw a few more punches at me and breathed heavily. She was already dressed to train when I first saw her. Perhaps she had already tired herself out before our little fight.

"Here I come!" The look in her eyes said that she wasn't going to hold back anymore. She was determined to land a hit on me. She threw her punch, I leaped over her, causing her to punch through the wall of the dojo. Looks like she had some strength after all.

I poked her in the back of the head and laughed tilting my head in a rather girly manner. If we weren't going to be here long she didn't need to know that I was actually a guy. She just laughed in response.

"You're pretty good!" She started to leave the dojo. -I'm so glad you're a girl."

"Huh?"

"It's just...well I couldn't stand losing to a boy." I just stood there as she walked away. She was definitely going to end up hating me sometime in the next couple of hours. I could just feel it.

As I walked back up father was talking to the man of the house. Looks like he managed to change himself back into a human. Now if I could only get myself changed back. The eldest daughter greeted me at the door, inviting me in. she took me upstairs, showing me a room that I could use while we stayed here. I placed my bag down. It was the first time I could recall having an honest to God room in a while. It would take some getting used to that was for sure.

"The bath is free now, why don't you go down and take one." As much as I really wanted to I refused.

"Oh, but you must, you must be pretty sweaty from all that exercise today." I didn't seem like she would take no for an answer. So I took the towel and headed for the bathroom.

Inside I rinsed off with cold water. Doing my best to ignore my body. I still was avoiding it as much as possible. Even now I hadn't ever really looked at myself as a girl. I didn't want to. Doing that would just make it more real.

A few minutes after that I broke down. I really wanted to be in my own body again. I ran some hot water in the tub and climbed in. I loved changing back into a guy again. Everything felt right. Like a fresh pair of clothes that had just been washed. I sunk into the water contently. All the time sighing to myself though.

It seemed like we were going to be staying here a while and I wasn't going to spend any more time of it as a girl. They all had to find out eventually anyways. It seemed better to just get it out there. I may as well go out like I am now. I stood up out of the bath, enjoying the last few moments of the hot water dripping down my body.

At that very moment a very naked Akane walked in. we exchanged eye contact. I was officially experiencing the most awkward moment of my life. She just slowly backed out again. Closing the door behind her. I waited for what seemed like an eternity for what I knew was about to come.

A blood curling scream. Man did she have a pair of lungs on her.

I got dressed as quickly as I could to go down and explain everything. It took me a minute to reach the main room. I didn't need anyone else seeing me in the state that she just did. I knew that this was a bad idea, I always seemed to have such rotten luck.

"'Scuse me." I coughed. Akane was currently holding a large table. Which I think she intended to beat me with.

"Who...who are you?" The old man asked.

"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this." That was the second time I had to use that into today. Hopefully it would be the last.

"I can explain this Ranma." Pops came around the corner still slightly steaming from the hot water that he must have just poured on himself. As for why he waited so long to change back in the first place is beyond me though.

"Genma!" Tendo shouted. "When did you arrive?"

He proceeded to explain our situation while I waited outside. Akane sat next to me listening. She was still brooding, but I think she was starting to realize it wasn't entirely my fault. After all I could have explained it to them earlier.

"So which are you really?" Surprisingly she broke the silence. Though nearly half of an hour had passed. Those old guys could sure talk on and on. "A guy or girl?"

"A guy for sure! My idiot father dragged us out to China to do some intense training. We ended up at this place called Jusenkyo. The guide tried to warn us, but we ignored him and went straight to training. Next thing I know one of pops kicks lands me in this small pond. When I came out of the water I was a girl."

"Then what about your dad?"

"I was so mad." I chuckled. Looking back at it was starting to be a little funny to me. At least when telling it to someone else. "I sent him straight into another pond. He turned into panda."

"Sounds impossible, I don't believe in curses or magic."

"Trust me, neither did I until a month ago. If I touch cold water though, I turn into a busty girl."

"Sounds awful." I caught her sarcasm, though my choice of words could have been more considerate. Then again I wasn't really the considerate type. Akane was definitely not busty. She wasn't bad looking though. Her temper though made her very NOT CUTE!

"Its not like I want to ever be a girl. I'm not some kind of pervert. I was only a girl today because it was raining."

"Yea sure, then you were a girl to sneak a peek at another girl naked." Her temper randomly flared up again and she stormed off.

"Yeah well you don't got anything I haven't seen! And mine are way bigger than yours anyways!" Holy crap was she not cute at all. Something about her just made me want to just get in a verbal showdown. Why I threw my female self in her face though was beyond me. I loathed being a girl, and all I really wanted to do at this point was to find a way to be rid of this curse.

Later that night I lay awake fuming to myself. I didn't want to be here at all. It wasn't that the people weren't nice...well minus one who had a raging temper. Not to mention it was nice to meet a friend on pops who wasn't intent on our demise. No, it was the fact that at this point I was pretty used to traveling and this seemed like it was going to be a long term gig. I wasn't totally used to the idea of four stable walls to sleep in each night.

Restless I wondered to the dojo for some late night training. It didn't take me long to work up a good sweat. I kept it going working on my agility. I truthfully didn't much care to start fights. They sure did seem to start on their own though. It seemed like everywhere we went there was someone to fight. To prove that the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts would take and win any challenge. It was the "_any" _part that always seemed to land us into half the problems we had. Still it seemed like a worthwhile thing to keep going. Though sometimes I wished that I had some aspirations of my own. Too bad martial arts was all I knew.

"Do you ever stop training?" Her tone said she was still a little mad, not mad enough not to talk to me though.

"Couldnt sleep." I tried to keep it brief without being rude. I didn't need her blowing up on me again before the day even got started.

"Me either, guess I kind of over did it earlier."

"No, I really should have explained things earlier. I just didn't really want to come here to marry a stranger. Not to mention.." I paused while I did a barrage of jabs into a practice dummy. "I honestly didn't think that we would be here too long. The fact that a guy like me turns into a cute girl isn't something I exactly want to tell everyone."

"I guess I get it. People would think your some kind of pervert or something." she sat down on the floor of the dojo. I followed suit across from her. I had gotten plenty of training for one day.

"Not to mention it hurts my pride a little. The pervert thing too, just not so much." An awkward silence filled the room. Here I was with the girl I was slated to marry. Our first encounter had gone horrible awry and all we could talk about was the fact that I was half girl. "Listen sorry about messing with you about the whole thing I said earlier."

"No, I know I have some anger issues sometimes. It was a pretty low blow though. I've just been extra stressed out lately." She sighed into her hands.

"Why?"

"This guy at school who is into me challenged that anyone who could beat me in a fight gets to go out with me."

"Can he do that?" Made me wonder what their history was.

"Apparently, now every morning I have to leave extra early and literally fight my way into the school."

"Seems intense. Does this guy ever challenge you?"

"No, its been like a week already and so far its just been a bunch of sweaty guys from sports clubs that I can walk all over. I have no idea why he doesn't fight me himself...not that I would date him even if he won."

"Sounds stupid then."

"All the guys I know are stupid. No offense."

"Don't worry I only took it half offensively." She laughed a little at that.

"Anyways you'll see tomorrow. Kasumi said to take you up to the school so you can get started. She dismissed herself then headed inside. I got a little nervous. I didn't have much schooling experience. Didn't have time for it what with all of the training we did. Pops was really trying to get settled down. All I could think was how I didn't like it.

Morning arrived all too quickly. It wasn't that I wasn't used to waking up early. Pops had a thing for training early in the morning. I think he just liked to make me suffer. I followed behind Akane on the way to school. She seemed to be in as much of a rush to get there as I was to leave this city and fix my body. If only we had dealt with this before we left China. That said I was glad to be out of China the people there were crazy.

When Akane had told that story the previous night, she failed to mention that there were at least thirty guys all dressed up in sports gear, blocking her from entering the school. If this was her idea of a bunch I was curious as to what _a lot _would be._  
><em>

"Whoa seriously?! Why are so many guys lined up for a girl like you?" I didn't think she heard me. She was already charging straight into the group. Interestingly enough they were seriously attacking her. I perched myself up on the wall to get a good view of the carnage. She clearly outclassed the standard stock of jocks. After all she was a martial artist like I was. They were about as good to her as she was to me. Amused I watched her beat down a hockey player with his own stick. It was a brutal blow that was sure to leave him a tooth or two shorter than he already was. In a matter of minutes she had them all sprawled about on the ground crying and bleeding. Some of them were doing both. I bounded over to her. She was so not cute.

"Impressive as always Tendo Akane." A guy in blue stepped out from behind a tree, bokken in hand. This had to be the douche that Akane was talking about. I instantly didn't like him. Something about the regal tone his voice had just crossed me wrong. "Enough of this childs play, it is time I won you as my bride."

"I'm not gonna be your bride just cause you say so."

"Too late bud, I'm already her fiance'." I wasn't sure why I felt the need to barge into their business. Mostly cause I just wanted to piss this guy off.

"Tendo Akane, is this true?"

"Well sort of..." She fidgeted, but she didn't deny it.

"I Tatewaki Kuno. The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High..."

"Blue Thunder? I whispered to Akane. She just shrugged in as much confusion as I was in. Which was good, because I would be scared to live in a world where any of what he was saying made sense.

"At least sir, tell me the name of the one I am to best for Akane's hand."

"Saotome Ranma!"

"Then Saotome Ranma. Prepare to die!" He began a straight on attack at me. I could see that living here would at least be eventful.

At that moment I heard the rumble of thunder and felt the dreaded sensation of one cold drop hitting my arm. Shit, I would have to end this fast. I charged also leaping high. Which was no good. He say right through my attack. His bokken pointed towards my throat. Too slow though. I was already having my fun.

As soon as our attacks finished I felt myself being flung into a nearby tree. A dense rain had began in those few moments. I didn't even realize that I had changed into a girl. An all too familiar panda handed me a pot of hot water.

"Thanks you're a life saver pops!" He grunted a few times and headed back into the downpour. I poured the water on myself out of view. I didn't need anyone seeing any more than they might have already had.

The bell rang. I peeked around at some people dragging Kuno into the school. It seemed as if I managed to knock him out. Pathetic, I wasn't tapping _that _hard.

"Great we're late." Akane sighed.

"You can go in without me, I gotta wait this rain out."

"Wait here a minute." She ran inside. Like I was really gonna go out and voluntarily become a girl for the whole world to see. A minute later she appeared with a pair of umbrellas. We ran inside but unfortunately we were forced to wait outside the class as punishment for being late. Didn't bother me any, I didn't even want to go to school in the first place.

"Just great." Akane sighed, trying to refrain herself from leaning against the wall. I just closed my eyes and shut everything out. "This is your fault you know."

Just shut it all out

"Don't act like you don't hear me." she hissed, trying to be quiet.

"I didn't exactly make that guy try and fight me. I definitely didn't ask for it to rain either. I would have been fine without your help."

"You're a real ass you know that? No good deed goes unpunished I see."

"Story of my life." I disregarded the fact that she called me an ass. I was being a little temperamental. She was too though, I hoped. It was a rough couple of days for everyone.

"Look I didn't ask to be engaged to you!" She shouted. Inside the classroom everyone started stirring. Looks like that cat was out of the bag.

"Like anyone would want to be engaged to an un-cute girl like you." I muttered. I failed to see why the whole school seemed hung up on a girl with such a rash personality. Her looks didn't cover that in the slightest.

"SAOTOME RANMA!" A loud shout grabbed both of our attention

"Hey look, it's Kuno." I jeered to Akane

"THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE!" He pulled back his hair to show me what I already knew about.

The word _Idiot _was clearly bruised into his forehead. The letters really came out nicely.

"Seriously Ranma?" Akane cried.

"Yeah, I don't think that's what he's actually mad about." He was obviously infatuated with her. He could have her for all I cared. I only wanted to beat him up cause he was so damn annoying. Quite frankly keeping him away from her was more than amusing.

"Are you truly engaged to this ruffian?" Kuno grabbed Akanes hand and peered down into her eyes. At this point a few of the students, mostly male ones, were gathered around. Much to the dismay of the teacher who at this point seemed to give in. The class hadn't quieted down since the word _engaged_ first entered the conversation.

"Well...technically yes." She pulled her hands away from Kuno's grasp. Now the side chat was really starting to get loud as everyone seemed to clamor over this news.

"I wont accept this." Kuno muttered. "I will destroy Ranma and you will be my bride Akane."

That was enough for me. I was itching to really beat this guy to a pulp and luckily for me the rain had stopped. I jumped out an open window. Second story, no big deal. I looked back to see if Kuno had the balls to follow. To my pleasure he was right behind me with a serious look on his face. Akane behind him shouting something inaudible. I looked down to stick the landing. Now I knew why Akane was yelling. Out of all the things that could have been outside this window.

A pool.

Well my day was officially turning from bad to nightmarish. As soon as I hit the water I felt the change set in. The sickening feeling of all my bones and organs reshaping. It was instant and fortunately didn't hurt any but rapid changes like this still made me queasy. I didn't have time to think it over. I swam down, but I didn't get far. Kuno's arms wrapped around me up my torso until his hands grabbed something neither one of us were expecting. He quickly let go, I turned to face him, our eyes locked.

I grabbed him by him by surprised and propelled off of the pool floor kneeing him in the face during the process. I would just have to use his body as a shield to make my way out of the pool. Less people would see that way.

Mid air I threw him into the ground the vaulted as quick as I could off his shoulders. Our eyes locked again. I was slightly impressed that he wasn't knocked out. He just look bewildered. I used his face to kick myself off away from the pool area. Hopefully that last kick would just rattle his brains enough to make him forget what just happened. I sped off as quick as I could. Hopefully no one got a good enough look at me as I made my escape. At the other end of the school yard I jumped up into a tree and started to strip. I had to dry these clothes, they were all I really had at the moment.

"He didn't have to squeeze my chest so hard." I grumbled to myself, annoyed at how long the sensation of being harshly groped was lasting. I didn't realize that they were so sensitive. I finished wringing out my pants as best I could. "He's probably figured out my secret by now." I sighed.

"Hey dummy!" Amazingly enough I did want to hear her voice. "Just how stupid are you?

"I know you're not talking to me!"

"Jumping into a pool like that..."

"Shut up, stupid!"

"Stupid huh? I guess I'll just dump out this hot water I got for you."

"No no no..." The sound of footsteps interrupted her being cruel to me in my time of crisis. Akane turned to see who was coming, luckily this tree was shielding me from view. Not that I cared if anyone saw me.

"Kuno!" Dang, I thought I would have a little more time before he came poking his ugly mug around. "Catch!"

She threw the pot at me. Her throw was a little shallow though and I found myself hanging by my feet struggling to hold onto the hot pot. I could not have been in a more awkward pose.

"Kuno! I challenge you." Was she serious? Or was she just trying to buy me some time in order to change back?

I managed to get myself upright, from the sounds of things it sounded like those two were really going at it. I was surprised that Kuno would actually fight her. Even I wouldn't serious fight a girl. What was wrong with him?

I started to pour the water, when all of a sudden Kuno was flung into me. Why was Akane such a brute?

I picked myself up off the ground only to see a wide-eyed Kuno staring right into my face.

"Tell me young maiden, have you seen a strange boy around here who wears a pig tail?" Inwardly I breathed a sigh of relief. This guy was so dense he didn't notice me change into a girl right in front of him. I just shook my head no in response.

"That coward, running from a fight." I gritted my teeth, but it was no time to blow my cover. "No doubt he feared my prowess in battle." Says the guy who just lost to a girl.

"He is spineless! He is no man!" It was really getting hard not to take it personally. "HE IS NO MAN!"

"I cant believe what you're saying! I'll take you on anytime." Well, that was it my cover was blown.

"This will be amusing. If you beat me, then I Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder. I Shall allow you to date me!"

OK, forget dense this guy was just outright stupid. He was already swinging his little wooden sword at me like some sort of lunatic. I leaped and landed gracefully onto his bokken. A move that left him bewildered.

"Who asked for a date for crying out loud?" I kicked him in the face literally as hard as I could. Then mid air showed off some of my prowess. While he lay on the ground I flipped his sword up into my hand.

"I'll have you know that Saotome Ranma is _even better_ than me!" I turned and walked away taking his sword with me. "Let's get out of here Akane."

"What about school? It's still in the middle of class."

"You go if you want I'm going home." Interestingly enough she followed me home. She didn't say anything the whole way. Except for once early, when she told me to put my pants back on. We had both had enough of that place for one day. Hopefully things would be less crazy in the upcoming days. With Kuno though, I had my doubts.

My secret was safe, for now.

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><p>Thanks for the read. If you notice any errors, or I missed something obvious (it happens) feel free to let me know. I appreciate the feedback.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Here we are at chapter two. Things are gonna take a big turn from here...and yet they wont all at the same time. So you know...you'll see.

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><p>"Heard you guys had a good first day of school." Nabiki snickered. I could already tell that she was going to be a thorn in my side. Making fun of a guest after only one day. Just rude. I stuffed more rice into my mouth.<p>

"Ranma after dinner you should let me wash those clothes. It looks like they managed to get awfully dirty." Kasumi chimed. She was always overly optimistic, playing the perfect host.

"That's her politely saying that you smell like pool." Nabiki quipped.

"I don't really have a change of clothes. We kind of lost stuff in China." I pushed the last of my rice into my mouth.

"Well you can always borrow some from Akane or Nabiki. I'm sure that they wont mind."

"Eh?" Was all I could get out.

"Oh yeah, I'll lend him some stuff. It'll be fun!" Nabiki grinned at me. I didn't like the twinkle that she had in her eye.

"Ain't no way in hell that I'm wearing girls clothes! Ever!"

"Oh he got defensive fast. It's just for a few hours, I'm sure that Kasumi will get them done as soon as she can. Plus you're a girl at the moment, so what's the big deal?"

"Come on Ranma." Akane grabbed me by the collar and dragged me much to my protest, to the bathroom. I forgot how creepy strong she could be when she wanted. "Go take a bath! And give me your clothes. I'll bring you a change of clothes. So just get over it." She tossed me in and slammed the door behind me.

"Brute." I muttered. Stripping out of my clothes was almost painful since I knew what was coming. It was something that couldn't be undone a line I swore the first time I really thought about my curse. The plan up until now was to remain a guy as often as possible.

I climbed into the hot bath and turned back into a guy. Enjoying everything being back to where it was supposed to be. I heard the other door open and abruptly shut after a few minutes of soaking. Through the wall I could hear all the girls giggling. Either they had already dropped some clothes off, or they were in the middle of deciding my fate. I was sure they were picking out something super feminine. My mind went to dark places.

The heat from the water was starting to fade. I quickly finished washing myself then turned the shower to cold after a moments hesitation. The sudden change from hot water to cold distracted me from the change. I grabbed my towel and dried myself off. Carefully avoiding _sensitive _areas as much as possible. I went into the changing room and inspected what, if anything was there.

I gulped, indeed there was. I wasn't sure why me, a strong ass martial artist was afraid of some clothes. It was by far the most terrifying thing that I had ever done. It felt as if I was breaking some sort of taboo. A guy wearing girls clothes was so perverted.

I breathed a sigh of relief that the top was just a tank top. I pulled that on first. The cool air was starting to get to me. The panties were just plain white ones. Nothing special about them. At least they were considerate in their choices. I closed my eyes and put them on. The snug fit wasn't totally uncomfortable. I was used to the care free feeling of boxers, not that applied now since I didn't have the same problem.

Then there was the short shorts...I guess I could deal with those. I was already wearing panties. I quickly pulled them on. I slowly opened the door and peered outside. All quiet. I would just bolt for my room and wait till morning. I tip toed out of the bathroom.

"Looking good there Ranma."

Nabiki again. She sure liked to push peoples buttons. I was already fuming enough, and now she was outright trying to embaress me.

"I still think we should have him wear at least a sports bra. Those things are huge."

"Hell no." I stormed to my room, slamming the door shut.

"It's just a bra. All girls wear them!" Nabiki shouted through the door.

"Give it a rest Nabiki." Akane finally spoke up. I just climbed into my sleeping bag. Screw Nabiki. She was a bigger jerk than I was. Which was really saying something.

A few minutes later a knock fell on my door.

"Ranma can I come in?"

"If I say no are you gonna come in anyways?"

"Pretty much."

"Then yeah come in." I sat up out of bed. I wasn't actually tired anyways. Sorry about her. She really does like to torment and manipulate people. Especially for money."

"It's whatever."

"For what it's worth you really do just look like a normal girl. No one would think twice." Akane sat down next to me and leaned against the wall.

"You're not really helping. I don't want to be a girl, or wear girls clothes."

"Well until you fix your body you're probably going to have to deal with it."

"Don't wanna."

"Really? Be a man and sack up!" I knew she was just trying to help. I didn't think she would take it too well if she turned into a guy. Actually on second thought she just might enjoy that.

"It takes away who I am. I'm a man."

"Just be a man on the inside if you have to and one day this will all be behind you." It was strange to get some sound advice from a girl that I had only recently met. My dad never really gave good advice. Mostly he just made things go from bad to worse. "You may not like wearing girls clothes, but you may as well get used to it. If you ever need anything..."

"Yeah." After that she left. I wasn't sure if I felt better or not after our talk. I knew that she was right. I was sure there would be occasions where I might end up stuck as a girl for days even. I shuddered at the thought. It was just a lot to take in. I was just coming of age as a man and a martial artist. Then this shit happened.

I pulled of the shorts, they weren't very comfortable at least to sleep in. Interestingly enough though the panties were more than comfy. Which was officially the only thing positive I had to say about them so far. It was just how much of my legs were exposed to help keep my cool.

Morning came too quickly, I sighed and pulled the shorts back on before heading to breakfast. My dad didn't seem to come home last night. I was sure he was away on one of his training sessions. He took them often. I never knew when he would come back, some father he was.

Akane was already up and had clearly worked up a sweat in the dojo. I didn't even want to know what time she got up. I had no such inclinations especially on the weekend.

"Ah Ranma, I finished your clothes. You can pick them up after breakfast."

"Oh thank goodness!" I cried. "You're a real miracle worker Kasumi."

"Geez Ranma, it's just some clothes." Akane retorted. "You should really look into getting more than one set of clothes."

"I don't exactly have the money for clothes." I started scarfing down my breakfast. I was itching to go back to normal. Overnight as a girl, it was a strange first.

"You know I hear this new restaurant opened around here. You could always get a job."

"I don't know if my pops would let me. He takes martial arts pretty seriously. He probably wouldn't like me wasting my time working."

"At least check it out. Plus what he doesn't know wont hurt him." Nabiki butted in.

"I guess. It would be nice to have some money for a change." It didn't seem like a bad idea. Pops wasn't exactly reliable. It would be nice to have some things that weren't second-hand. I finished my breakfast and got my clothes. A quick trip to the bathroom and I was back in action as a man. I liberated the clothes. I felt a little bad for taking them, but they would be handy to have just in case. I didn't think Akane or the others would mind. I had a feeling they didn't want them back anyhow.

Kasumi gave me directions to the place. It was a little far for something that was more than likely going to be part time. I guess I did have school after all. Beggars couldnt be choosers though and after a good walk I decided I did want the job. It would help distract me from all this engagement nonsense till everyone came to their senses.

I found the place with good timing too. The clouds were looking like it was going to start raining any moment. I rushed inside. It was a good thing that I was applying for a job, I needed a place to wait the weather out.

"Ni hao!" Shampoo!? I stopped dead in my tracks. I about had to walk out the door, except the rain had started and that would only make it worse. Could it be worse? How did she find me here?

"You eat here?"Wait a minute. She was only looking for my girl version. She didn't know that I was a really a guy.

"Ah, no, uhh." I checked my pockets, to my disdain I didn't really have enough money to buy anything. I very well couldnt apply here. She would figure out my name, then try and kill me for just being called Ranma.

"If you no buy anything you leave!"

"Actually I would like a..." I scanned the menu for anything I could afford.

"Ranma! I finally caught up. I brought you an umbrella!" Akane's voice suddenly rang out behind me.

"Ranma?" Shampoo was looking at me curiously. "I come to Japan to find girl Ranma. You know her?"

"No! Just a coincidence!" I cried startled. Akane could not have come at a worse time. "We got to go, don't ask why, just go" I whispered to Akane.

"But she's looking for..." I clasped my hand over her mouth and started pushing her back out of the restaurant. I covered us both up with the umbrella but the emphasis of cover was on me.

"Run!" I finally took my hand off her mouth once we were out of earshot and eyesight of the place. Couldnt be too careful though. If she managed to find me here, it was only a matter of time.

"Why!"

"I'll tell you when we get home, just trust me." We ran for the house. I didn't even care that I was getting wet and my body was gradually changing. I just needed to be away from that crazy ass girl.

Akane followed me into the training hall. If somehow Shampoo managed to follow us this place would take less collateral damage.

"You're a girl again..." She laughed.

"Dont care..." I was looking around, making sure that it was safe first.

"_You don't care?"_ She seemed more flabbergasted than I was. How did she manage to track us to Nerima. It's not like we told anyone there where we were going. At least I didn't.

"Listen that girl, from the restaurant is trying to find and kill me. At least the girl me, she doesn't know that I am really a guy."

"What?! Why?"

"Long story short, I beat her in a fight and in her culture they kill others who beat them. Some crazy amazon ass stuff I don't really know. I was too busy running for my life to really get all the details."

"Do you think she followed us?

"Yeah I do." I motioned to the door. I cliched flash of lightning silhouetted her body.

"I knew you know girl Ranma. I follow to be sure. Now you die."

"You couldnt beat me before, you definitely cant beat me now."

"Last time off guard cause you foriegner. No hold back now." She rushed me chúi in both hands. She meant business. She flung them around as if they weighed no more than a flower to her. She was strong like Akane was when she was angry.

"I'll go get help!" Akane darted off. Which was fine really. She would only be in the way during this fight. I didn't really like fighting girls. I only fought Shampoo the first time, because it was literally do or die. Too bad the die part applied both ways.

I fought back with a flurry of kicks. While gracefully dodging her heavy blows. While I was a girl I lacked the strength and reach of being a guy. However I had more speed and a well placed kick was more than enough to knock one if the heads of the chúi clean off. Breaking a wooden handle was no struggle for me. With her next attack I relieved her of one of them. Another quick flurry and she was off balance. She was good to last this long against me, but last time I wasn't one-hundred percent either.

It wasn't that I thought she could actually kill me in a real fight. She just came off as a little crazy and the last thing I needed was some nut job trying to shank me while I walked down the road. I knocked her down and pinned her to the floor. She tried to wrestle her way out of it, but unfortunately I excelled at grappling and easily held her in place.

"Just stop Shampoo, you don't understand. I'm not a girl!"

"Lies, you very clearly girl."

"Let me clear that up for you then!" I turned to see Akane throwing a pot of hot water at me.

"What? You turn into man."

"I tried to tell you I'm a guy not a girl."

"Then that change things." In that instant I loosened my grip thinking that she had calmed down. Her hand reached up behind my neck. I feared the worst. I had slipped up and let my guard down. Her face approached mine. Then her lips met my own.

"Wo ai ni." After that she just ran off back into the storm. Leaving both Akane and I speechless. Till a hard punch to the back of my head pulled me back to reality.

"Jerk!" Now it was Akane who was running out of the dojo. What was wrong with her? I thought she didn't even like me. Not that I was into tomboys like her. The way she reacted though sure seemed like she took it pretty personally. I mean it wasn't like I asked Shampoo to kiss me or anything. She was just jealous that she hadn't got to kiss me yet. Yeah, that had to be it.

I fell onto the dojo floor and just stared at the ceiling. Cursing my luck.

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><p>Pumped out this chapter today. I normally like them longer, but you know, kind of want to keep the train moving. So expect a third chapter soon!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Hey again! Well time for some author comments. Thanks for the catches in that first chapter. I swear I have that problem in all my first couple of chapters. It doesn't help that the person who used to do my Beta's is no longer on the site *Wink Wink* So I am currently seeking a new one.

So I've been off Fanfiction for a while and this is my first non Naruto Fanfic. Gotta say that there seems to be a bit more demand for Ranma fics. Which is really encouraging and really just makes me want to keep going. Also yall are a bit more hardcore lot lol. Anyways here you go the third chapter.

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><p>By evening Akane hadn't spoken another word to me. Which was fine because I was still stewing to myself over what had happened this afternoon. I mean it wasn't technically my first kiss. I mean it was my first kiss as a guy. Shampoo had already kissed me once as a girl, vowing to hunt me to the ends of the earth to kill me. In retrospect I wasn't totally sure if I should count that as my first one.<p>

"Not eating Ranma? Shouldn't waste food you know." I snapped out of the daze I was in at the sound of my name.

"Ah, no, sorry. Just thinking 'bout stuff I guess."

"Like that girl?" Akane muttered a little more audibly than I think she intended.

"What girl?!" Soun quickly interjected, slamming his bowl onto the table. "You've been here two days and you're already breaking your engagement to my Akane!?"

"What? No! It's just this girl who followed me from China. She wants to kill me...I think. She may have kissed me then said something funny in Chinese."

"Ohh a girl from China! Is she pretty?" Nabiki tuned in to the conversation. Until now she had displayed a general disinterest from anything that didn't involve her. From what I could tell though, she did seem to have a thing for China.

"That's really not the point." I stammered.

"She was incredibly pretty Ranma." Akane at this point was just trying to make it worse for me.

"Look I don't want to marry her or nothing. I didn't even want to see her. The girl is crazy." I stormed off to the dojo for some practice to clear my mind.

This city was really starting to get on my nerves. First the angry "fiance" then it was the bipolar weather this place had displayed over the last couple of days. Now I had stalker chick from a foreign land. I I had to marry this girl the least the world could do was let me do it quietly.

I spent the rest of the weekend training to keep my mind off of things. I kept to myself the whole time, and for the first time since my arrival I had some tranquility. Too bad that the mood was a little sour around a particular person.

Fall seemed to be setting in a little early this year. The morning walk to school was a little cooler than what it had been the first day that I went. At least with winter being on the way I wouldn't have to worry about the rain. I had no idea though if snow would make me change into a girl. I guess I would cross that bridge when I came to it.

"You want my jacket?" I finally decided to break the silence with Akane who was walking impatiently ahead.

"What do you care?" She stopped in her tracks and threw me an angry glare.

"I just thought that you might be cold..."

"Since when do you care?" She started walking off again.

"I was just trying to be nice and you throw it in my face. This is the part of you that's so un-cute!"

"Hmph!" Now she was being intentionally aggravating. At least girls didn't have to deal with this sort of treatment from guys. "Why don't you ask that other girl if she wants your jacket. After all she _loves _you."

"She loves me? Where did that come from?"

"_Wo ai ni. _It means I love you idiot."

"I doubt that she really loves me! You're just mad that she kissed me and that you didn't."

"Oh, you think that's it huh. You call yourself a man? I bet you couldnt kiss me even if you wanted to." So she was gonna call me out on how comfortable I was with stuff like this.

"I'll kiss you right now if you give it up on the whole Shampoo thing."

"Forget it, I don't want a kiss from a cross dressing pervert!" She rounded the corner into the school yard. I gritted my teeth in anger. I was NOT a cross dresser. Why was she so mad at me. I barely even knew her. Even if we were engaged she shouldn't be that attached to me.

"Whatever _tomboy!_" That word must have really set her off because she came back around the corner really quick. She stormed right up to me and punched me straight in the face with brutish strength. I actually felt a harsh pop in my jaw from the hit. I fell over to the ground.

"Call me tomboy one more time." Her nostrils were flaring she grabbed me by the collar. She was kind of cute when she was mad. Seemed like she was itching for a fight.

"Tomboy." I laughed out. Suddenly I was airborne, straight into the drainage system for the rainwater. I tried to land on a pipe that was jutting out, which to my dismay was wet. With a sickening pop my ankle twisted in a direction I knew wasn't gonna feel well when I managed to climb out. So much for school today.

I was already feeling the pain when I crawled out of the ditch. I just may have broken it this time. What was she thinking throwing me into the ditch like this. I got up and tried to put some pressure on it. Which was no good, hopefully this would just be a bad sprain.

"Oh my god! Are you ok? I didn't mean to really hurt you."

"You punched me then threw me in the ditch...what part wasn't supposed to hurt?" I gritted my teeth as I tested how much weight I could feasibly put on my foot.

"You insulted me!"

"You insulted me too!"

"Well whatever...come on I'll take you to the clinic."

"How are we gonna get there? I can't exactly walk."

"So? I can just carry you there?" She made it sound like that was such an easy option.

"Wont that look kinda funny? A girl piggy backing a guy."

"You must be in more pain than I thought. You fell in water remember?"

"Oh yeah. I guess it's starting to feel a little more normal to me." I concept that worried me. Thinking that I might ever actually feel just as comfortable being a girl as I was a guy.

"That's probably for the best. Climb on." I fumbled awkwardly onto her back. To be honest I was completely uncomfortable with being carried. That and the way my chest pressed against her back made my mind want to wonder. I was still a guy on the inside after all.

"You know being a girl isn't that bad. It can have its perks." She started walking away from the school. Which kind of made me wonder where this clinic was. I still hadn't gotten the whole layout of this place. Not that I had spent a lot of time exploring.

"Like what?"

"You'll see later. For now, we're here."

"Really? That was fast. Seriously that was just like around the corner."

"It wasn't like I was gonna carry you across town." Sweet then sour all over again. She carried me into the little clinic. We went straight into a room were she sat me down on the examining table.

"I'm gonna go find Dr. Tofu." She ran excitedly out of the room. I don't know how she couldnt have seen him on the way in, this place wasn't exactly huge.

"Oh what have we here?" A male voice suddenly came from behind me and a pair of firm hands grasped my shoulders. How did he just show up in what I was sure was an empty room? This guy wasn't an ordinary doctor.

"The way your jaw is slightly off...and this bruise on your cheek. Seems like Akane's work. Am I right?"

"Yeah...How did you know?"

"Akane is a sweet young girl." If she really was, we wouldn't be having this conversation. "But she has quite the temper."

"Ah Dr. Tofu. This is Ranma. I know he looks like a girl, but he's really a guy."

"Really? Betty and I could spend all day discovering how me manages to be so convincing." He laughed holding up the arm of a skeleton that was placed near the wall. I was beginning to have my doubts about this guys sanity. I was beginning to wonder if the Tendos knew anyone who wasn't weird. Which sadly included me and my pops.

"Cursed." I muttered wondering why Akane even bothered explaining the fact that I was really engaged.

"Sounds like a fascinating story. You can tell Betty and I sometime about it." He popped my jaw suddenly back into it's proper place. Smoothly though, I barely even felt him do the motion. "So how do you know Akane?"

"We're kind of engaged I guess."

"Interesting. At such a young age too."

"It was all our parents idea." Akane blurted out. That was when I got a look at the way she was staring at Dr. Tofu. I knew that look, and now I knew she didn't just come here for medical purposes. She actually liked this guy. Just something about the way she stared at him just was really giving me that sort of vibe.

"Well now, lets check out this ankle." He started to look curiously at my ankle.

"How did you know it was my ankle?" I asked. I was curious since I had yet to say anything about it.

"Oh how I know would likely be just as long of a story as why you're not really a girl. Which I was aware of anyways. Your aura is definitely that of a man." This guy was not only a natural but he clearly had extensive and special martial arts training. What was he doing running a small clinic?

"Betty can you hand me the bandages?" In the instant I looked at the skeleton on the wall he twisted my ankle. Painfully.

"Ah you're hurting me!" I still didn't like the way my voice sounded as a girl. Too high pitched. I sounded pathetic when I cried out.

"Really? Point out where there is still pain for me." He asked confused, as if he had maybe done something wrong.

"Right here..." Actually I didn't even seem to feel the pain anymore. What did he do exactly? I had never seen anyone able to make the pain just _go away_ before. "I guess it doesn't hurt after all."  
>"Oh good. Well hopefully I don't see you too often. Try to stay off of it as much as you can. You should be alright to walk home at least."<p>

"Thanks a lot." He walked us too the door and waved us off.

"Ah Ranma. If I could borrow you for one more second." I stayed back while Akane went ahead. "I'm sure you're conflicted about being engaged to a girl like her. Just remember that if you're nice to her she will fall for you. You seem like a nice guy, just give yourselves time to adjust. You're both still young."

He patted me on the back. I didn't have anything to say back. I hadn't even honestly considered actually marrying Akane at this point. I wasn't even sure if I liked her yet. She had looks, which, to me at least were completely over shadowed by her personality. I caught up to Akane, who as best I could tell wasn't taking a route to either home or school.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere, where being a girl isn't so bad." I was almost afraid to follow her. I didn't know where that path would lead me. I was still working on the words that Dr. Tofu had imparted to me. Give her more time. That part seemed easy enough. It was the actually being nice part that didn't exactly play into my wheel house. Though I now knew that actively trying to push her buttons was not a good idea.

Then she did something unexpected. She grabbed my hand and pulled me along. I wasn't sure if she was feeling guilty about before, or maybe she wanted things to work out between us. I felt like for the first time she just wanted to have a pleasant time with me. It was tough trying to figure girls out. One minute they want to kill you and the next they are your best friend.

We came upon an ice cream place. It wasn't what I had in mind when she said that we were going somewhere that it was good to be a girl. We walked inside. The place was pretty empty which wasn't surprising considering the time of day. We walked up to the counter. Akane ordered for me. It was something called a _parfait. _The guy at the resister just stared at us. Mostly me, I figured it must have been cause I was dressed a little funny for a girl. Worst case scenario he was checking me out. I was mentally ready for that.

I had never had one let alone order one. Just looking at it I knew as I guy it wasn't something that I would ever order on my own. I would get made fun of for sure. We sat down. Akane just watched me as I stared at the ice cream covered with fruit.

"Just try it." I took a big scoop out with a strawberry on top, and stuffed it in my mouth. The sweetness melted through my mouth as the accents of strawberry went straight to my head. "Good right? You could never have this if you were a guy."

"Very true." I muffled out. My mouth still half full with ice cream.

"You could work on your manners though." She sighed. I took another bite. I noticed that Akane hadn't touched hers yet. She was just watching me eat this thing.

"Hmm?"

"Just thinking...like we just got off on the wrong foot you know?

"Yeah...I guess we did." Then for the first time we really just sat and talked for a while. She told me more about herself. A little about her mom and how she died. I guess I was starting to see her as a real person. I didn't really tell her much about myself. I didn't know how, I just let her do most of the talking. I didn't have much experience with this kind of thing.

We finally went home long after finishing our parfaits. I took a long hot bath. Today had just been a lot to take in. My opinion of Akane certainly had improved a little. I wondered how long we could go without taking another go at each other. I laughed to myself as I got out of the bath. It would probably be in the morning.

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><p>But yeah. Seriously I haven't wrote majorly in almost 2 years so I know there's probably gonna be some mistakes until I can find an editor. I suck at editing my own things. PM me if you find mistakes, or are interesting in being my new Beta.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Hey again! My schedule is pretty crazy on the weekends so I cant really get any writing done. During the week though I try and pump it out. So hopefully I get at least a few chapters done each week. In respone to a review. I know that the Ranma section is pretty dry. I think I came here like a year ago and the same stuff was pretty much still there when I started writing again. So hopefully this will be some new air.

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><p>"Come one Ranma! We're going to be late!" Akane had me by the arm and was tugging me along as fast as she could. However I was still trying to stuff the rest of my toast into my mouth. After all, I did need my carbs. What I didn't need as a sudden face-full of water. I turned to see an old later splashing more water on the pavement. She didn't seem the least bit concerned that she hit someone with water. On second thought, the old bat probably didn't even notice us run by. Akane didn't even notice the fact that I shrunk. Pretty sad, considering that she was touching me when it happened. I sighed inwardly as we kept running to the school.<p>

"Ranma!" She looked at me curiously, like it was the first time she had ever seen me as a girl. I figured by now she would have been pretty close to being used to it. "When did you?" She pulled open my shirt revealing my chest.

The sudden gasps from the crowd behind her finally snapped her back to our setting. We were at school and she just exposed me to a crowd of guys. Personally I didn't care if they saw, but Akane quickly covered me back up.

"Tendo Akane and the Pig-tailed girl!" I shuddered at the voice. Kuno again. "My loves!"

I cringed literally and vomited in my mouth a little. Since when the hell was I his love? He had only seen me as a girl one freakin' time. I even stole his sword after that fight, altough it looked as if he had already replaced it with another.

"No time!" Akane shouted. We ran straight at Kuno and in unison jump and planted two firm kicks into his face. This was one guy I wished I would never have to see again. Especially since he apparently wanted to come onto me.

We didn't pay him any mind. Akane quickly found some hot water and changed me back just barely in time for class. Though by the end of my first real day of actual classes I wished we had been late and got kicked out again. I hadn't been to school much since middle school ended. It had all been on the road after that. Most of the day I spent confused and frustrated with how far behind I was in my studies. It didn't help that I was also hung up on what Kuno had said.

"Are you still hung up on what Kuno said this morning?" Akane finally broke the humdrum of our study session. Asking her to help wasn't my strong suit, so it was helpful when she just offered it out of the blue. Though to be fair she probably saw me doing one problem for far too long and took pity.

"What on earth would give you that impression?" I quickly defended. I didn't need her to know that it was bothering me.

"Well, for starts you scribbled _STUPID KUNO _on your homework..."

"He's just a jerk."

"Your just mad cause he finds you attractive as a girl." She snickered. I clenched a fist out of anger. "It's not like he's a real threat to you. You can always beat him up any time you want to."

"It's really not the point. I don't want nothin' to do with no guy."

"Well it's not like Kuno is the kind of guy to give up on his affections. Trust me I know, and you've seen it a little firsthand too."

"So what do I do then?"

"How should I know, I always just clobbered his goons and went my own way. You could just go on a date and let him down smoothly."

"You cant be serious?" Now she was just being cruel. "Like I would ever do that!"

"Just one date. Let him buy you some stuff, hang out for a while and then tell him you cant be with him. Make some excuse up he'll buy right into that."

"What if that doesn't work? I think I would puke if he tried to make a move. I'm just gonna go up there tomorrow and give him a piece of my mind. Then tell him to leave me and the _Pig-tailed girl _alone."

"You just let me know how that goes." She laughed as I stormed off to the living room.

"Lovers spat?" Nabiki teased as sat down. Kasumi was pouring Soun some tea while he read the paper. There was still no sign of my pops. It was about time to start worrying where he went, but I had my own problems.

"Hardly." I fumed. "On second thought, I'm gonna go take a bath." I went back upstairs and undressed. Much to my dismay the water was cold even though I had turned it up to be warm. I pulled on my boxers and covered my top half with a towel draped from my neck and ran downstairs.

"There's something wrong with the water!" I barreled into the living room with a dread look on my face.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. The water heater went out this morning. It may be a few days before it gets fixed."

"Ah Ranma! Your clothes." Soun was covering his face with his paper.

"Ranma when you're a girl you need to cover yourself. Come on." She shooed me back up the stairs back to Akane's room.

"Why are we going here?"

"You need some more clothing options." She knocked on the door.

"No way!" Akane opened the door.

"Help me out with him." There was nowhere to run since Akane's room was at the end of the hall. I was cornered like a rat. Akane and Nabiki inched closer, arms extended. "You can't keep running around the house half naked."

"Aint no way I'm gonna wear any more girls clothes!" The fact that I had already done so once was not a good enough excuse to make me do it more. Though I was sure it was about to come up.

"You have no choice." Nabiki inched closer.

"No way!" I protested some more.

"Ranma." Nabiki's tone took a sweet, yet deadly tone. "You're a guest in our house, right?" I gulped. I wasn't ready to be guilt tripped.

"You keep drawing all these hot baths to change yourself. It's not economical. You do realize that right?"

"No." I tried to play it off, but Nabiki wasn't going to lose.

"You'll wear girls clothes won't you?"

"-Okay." I walked willingly into Akane's room. Damn my good morals. I couldnt fight girls or beat their sound logic.

Kasumi entered after us. Nabiki and her started going through Akane's wardrobe. I just sat on the floor and stared at the wall, awaiting my fate.

"How about this one?" Kasumi asked.

"No not that one."

"But it has frills and it's so cute." I cringed ever time the word cute got uttered.

"You may think that, but this one is much better." I glanced over to see a pink blouse that Nabiki was holding up.

"But..."

"Why do you have to borrow _my _clothes?" Akane asked. She wasn't currently partaking in the destruction of her rooms cleanliness. She didn't seem to be too into destroying my pride as a man either.

"Cause he's your fiance'." Nabiki butted in.

"I'm not wearing no skirts! No skirts!" I ignored Akanes snide question. Even if she was the only one who seemed to be at least in part, on my side.

Finally they decided on some form of outfit. At least there was no skirt. Just some tight jeans that were a little tight.

"Well? How does it fit?" Kasumi asked. At least with her, the question was sincere.

"Hmm. The chest is a bit tight? I tugged at the blouse, which barely had any move left to move. Mine were a lot bigger than hers I guessed.

"And the waist?"

"Swimming in it." Every time I moved it felt funny. Even my guy shirts weren't _that _loose. I tugged it to show them all the extra fabric.

"Go to hell!" Akane grabbed her nearest shinai, why she had one in her room, I didn't know. Nevertheless she placed a firm hit square on my head.

"Like I can help I got a better body than you!" That was a weird thing for me to say.

"Ohh, so your proud of your beautiful girls body huh? For your information that's why Kuno likes you. Your just a piece of meat to him."

"Then why's he into you?" Nabiki and Kasumi had long since made their exit at this point.

"Fight me."

"Huh?"

"Meet me in the dojo in five minutes, and fight me for real." She stormed out of her room. I followed and went straight into mine. I grabbed the girls clothes that I had gotten the other day and changed into them. It wasn't my usual fighting get up, but it would be easier to move in than the clothes I had been wearing.

Akane had just finished reducing a pile of bricks to rubble by the time I walked in. A weak intimidation tactic. Brute strength alone wasn't enough to beat me.

"You really want to do this huh?" I shouted from the other end of the dojo. She glared and readied her stance. Apparently, I wasn't going to get an answer. "So not cute."

"AHH!" She charged, she wasn't very fast. Her speed was actually a little slower than Kuno's. I dodged her first two punches, smirking at every little yell she made each time she threw one. They only served to give her away. The kick that followed the punches was no surprise, it was basic follow through. I was reading her moves no problem.

I caught her leg and spun my body, flinging her to the floor. It was the first time I ever _hit _her. Technically it was more me using her inertia against her, but it was time to split hairs. She was already up off of the floor. Perhaps she wasn't going to back down unless I hit her for real.

_"Just remember that if you're nice to her she will fall for you."_ Dr. Tofu's words suddenly came to me. In that fraction of a moment I lost my focus. Her punch connected.

I didn't realize that she could hit so hard. Maybe it seemed harder because I was a girl. Either way I was picking myself up off of the floor.

"You know what? I'm not gonna fight you." I started to walk back inside.

"Why not?!" She demanded.

"Cause your my..." Her eyes grew wide. "Forget it"

I couldnt have been sure if she was just mad at me, but her face was all red. Almost as if she was blushing.

The next morning Akane and I stopped in at Dr. Tofu's office to get some hot water. He didn't pay us much mind though, since he was already with a patient. That guy didn't take any breaks. Akane insisted he was the best though, which was why he usually had a lot of patients.

We walked to school in peace after that. Though the whole time I was just wondering why Akane seemed so calm. Like she was actually in a good mood for once. We were just about to walk in the doors to school when I sensed the danger. I ducked, pulling Akane down to the ground with me. An instant later and something whizzed over our heads. Some kind of frisbee? No, it was an umbrella. What a strange thing to use as a weapon. It came back to the hand of our attacker. A boy that was my age, from the look of him you could tell he was strong. Muscular and serious. This guy might just be as strong as I was.

"Nicely dodged Ranma."

"You know him?" Akane asked. I gave him a good look over. He carried an umbrella, the one he had just thrown at us. His clothes were disheveled and the bag he was carrying looked like it held enough camping gear for a few weeks.

"Nope, don't know 'em."

"Prepare to die Ranma!" He seemed like a cheery new person that I didn't want to deal with. He slammed his umbrella into the ground right at our feet. I grabbed Akane by the waist and leaped back. The ground which he stood in was now a small crater nearly two square meters in diameter, and nearly a foot deep. This guy was super strong.

"I've spent a _long_ time looking for you Ranma! I see you're still good at running away."

"Are you sure you don't know him? He definitely seems to know you." Akane asked again. I nudged her off to the side. It was me this guy wanted to fight and I didn't want her to be in any danger.

"I already said I didn't!"

"You're going to play dumb? After everything that we've been through together?"

"You don't know him?" Akane's persistence was beginning to wear on me. Still, maybe I did know this guy from somewhere. He just didn't look like anyone I could remember.

"You really don't remember?" Now this dude was piling on. I couldnt be expected to remember so many people. It was a hassle to keep up with just the people I lived with. He looked hurt though, that I didn't remember him. I just shook my head no.

"Enough games! Why didn't you show up to fight me?!"

"Fight?" Now he had a little more of my attention. Wait, I did have a fight with a guy once. It was a few years ago though.

"I remember now! I went to the same middle school as you! We were in the same class!" I pointed. I still couldn't remember his freaking name though.

"Ryoga Hibiki!" He growled in my face, brandishing his umbrella.

"Long time no see!" I tried to pat him on the back and play this whole thing off. He hit my hand away though.

"Answer my question! Why didn't you come to fight me back then?." Some of the other students were now gathering around. Especially since he had recently made a large spectacle out of the sidewalk. It was all starting to come back to me now though. The whole incident that he was talking about.

"I did go there! I waited for you for three whole days and nights."

"Three days?!" Akane seemed surprised. I wasn't sure why. I was a man of my word after all.

"But when I arrived on the fourth day, you weren't there! You had already gone!" I wasn't sure who he was trying to fool into thinking that he was the victim in this story. I was the one who sat there with nothing to do for three days.

"Ryoga. Is it alright if I ask you a question?" I was going to attempt to be as nice as possible about all of this. After all, it was years ago, and I had already forgotten about it. "The place where we were supposed to meet back then...wasn't it in the abandoned lot behind your house? Why did you make me wait for three days?"

"What?! You think I was out on a stroll for those four days?!" He cried. This guy was as crazy as Shampoo.

"Then what were you doing?" This story ought to be good.

"I endured such a hardship before that fight." He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. He certainly had a flair for the dramatic. He proceeded to tell me the most bull shit story about how he somehow couldnt find his own back yard. Like I was supposed to believe he ran all over Japan for three days.

"If that story is true...Then you have absolutely no sense of direction whatsoever. Like an _extreme _case of misdirection." He looked embarrassed now. I would be too if in front of a crowd I had to tell that story too.

"You broke a man to man promise with me! Then you ran off to China with your father!"

"Well to be fair, I didn't really want to go to China..." Not that he was listening to me at this point. I already knew that this was still going to come down to a fight. He swung at me with that umbrella again. I soared back away from the blow.

"So you came here to finish the fight?" I asked.

"Finish it? You don't know the half of it! REVENGE!" He spun his umbrella and flung it like a frisbee again. I could tell by the path that it would return. I had already seen that move once. I leaned to the right to avoid his headshot.

"Revenge? The hell are you talking about? Did I do something that would make you want revenge?" I leaned left to dodge the umbrella again. The cries in the crowd helped me to time it down right. He caught the umbrella as it came to him.

"I'm going to end your happiness here, whatever it cost!"

"My happiness?" I turned to Akane. "Am I happy?"

"I wouldn't know! Just what did you do to him anyways?"

"What could I have done?" I didn't mean to seem like I was playing innocent. I really couldnt think of anything I had done to the guy besides miss this fight. Hardly something that should under normal circumstances, make someone want to get revenge.

"Well, it must have been something pretty bad. Look how mad he is."

"Enough stalling! Let's go Ranma!" He came at me, his time using his umbrella as some sort of lance. People and their linear attacks. I stuck out my arm and put a stop hand sign in his face.

"Incredible." Akane clearly didn't understand how incredible I really was.

"Sorry, but wait here for a moment." I ducked under his arm and ran around the corner. There was something I needed to get. I was in a full speed run. I passed my pops in panda form at Dr. Tofus place. It was the first time I had seen him in a few days. There was no time to ask why he was there though. I stopped at a nearby convenience store and pulled out the last of my pocket money. I bought the things I needed and flew back towards the school. He was still standing where I left him. I threw the bread I just bought at him.

"Curry bread?" He stared at it quizzically. I guess he had forgotten some stuff about that week as well. "What's the meaning of this?

"How about it? Forgive and forget." Negotiations, Not my usually style of doing things. Normally I would just kick his ass from here to downtown Tokyo. I wasn't really in the mood to fight though, since yesterday. There was a point to the bread though.

"Don't make fun of me!" I threw all of the buns I had at him. Somehow me managed to awkwardly catch them all.

"There, that's everything I can remember!"

"What are you talking about." Ryogas face, along with everyone in the crowd, had the most confused looks on their faces.

"Seriously Ranma. What's all the snacks about?" Even Akane was starting to look as irritated as Ryoga. She was gonna have to work on her patience.

"We went to an all-boys middle school. So as you can imagine, lunch was a pretty crazy time of day. It was like a battlefield! This whole thing got started cause I always got to the counter and bought stuff before Ryoga here could.

"We're not fighting over bread!" Ryoga shouted.

"Then what?"

"I've seen Hell because of you!" He tried a few more times unsuccessfully to hit me with the umbrella. Though I wasn't sure if he was coming at me one-hundred percent yet. "Your story doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of my suffering!"

He threw his umbrella at me again. It was a stupidly easy attack to dodge. I dodged into the crowd. He charged into the crowd after his umbrella came back. Then he charged right past me, the crowd and then he went right into the school. I wasn't totally sure when he was gonna notice that he wasn't following me. He had some serious issues.

"Where'd he go?" I played it off. Not that I meant for him to just go running off. I was sure he would say I ran away whenever he managed to find me again. The rest of the day was uneventful. Though the gossip of our fight sure did spread through the school like wildfire. It was tough for me to call that a fight, considering I didn't even fight back. I was sure he would find his was back though. My past sure did like to haunt me.

* * *

><p>Yeah just some more intoductions in this chapter. Getting to the good stuff soon though!<p> 


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